Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) convert chemical energy from fuel directly to electricity. SOFCs offer high system efficiency and are environmentally benign. In a SOFC, a gas tight oxygen ion conducting electrolyte is sandwiched between two porous electrodes (anode and cathode). Electrodes are the critical components for a SOFC where the electrochemical reactions take place: fuel is oxidized in the anode while oxygen is reduced in the cathode. However, the development and widespread adoption of SOFC technology is hampered since the anode and cathode catalysts are deactivated during operation due to sulfur species binding to the surface of the anode catalyst and deposition of chromia on the surface of the cathode catalyst.
In order to improve the performance and reliability of both the anode and the cathode as well as to reduce the overall cost of the SOFC system, it would be desirable if the catalysts could be regenerated to remove the poisoning effects during operation.
Consequently, a novel approach to fabricate economical high performance SOFCs is desirable.